In addition to its school choice proposal, the Texas House has also filed a funding bill that would invest billions in public schools.
AUSTIN, Texas — Hundreds of parents, teachers and students from across Texas gathered in Downtown Austin on Saturday to rally against a plan to give taxpayer money to some Texas families for private schooling.
The Save Texas Schools rally occurred at First United Methodist Church Family Life Center.
Speakers at the rally urged Democrats and rural Republicans to call their lawmakers to oppose Education Savings Accounts (ESAs).
“You can put as much lipstick on a pig as you want, but it’s still a pig,” State Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin) said. “They may be trying to fill up our public schools with some new money, but with a voucher, you’re putting a giant hole at the bottom and will ultimately drain more resources than we could ever put in.”
As hundreds rallied against the proposed ESA programs inside, Ashley Phillips and her 8-year-old son Ezra stood outside. Ezra said he is sad that he has to go to a new school next year because his current school is closing due to a lack of funding.
“It was a special place for a lot of us,” Phillips said. “It’s difficult.”
While holding a sign that said, “Accessibility is the bare minimum,” Phillips said she worries that if lawmakers pass ESAs, other underfunded schools could suffer the same fate.
“The dream would be funding accessible education for all kids, making sure that teachers are paid what they should be paid to care for our kids,” Phillips said. “That’s the ultimate scenario. Just access and equity funding.”
On Thursday, State Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Salado) filed the house’s proposal to create Education Savings Accounts. The policy that Republicans call “school choice” would allow parents to use state funds to help send their children to private schools.
Under House Bill 3, students in the program would receive funding for private school tuition equal to 85% of the average state and local funding public schools receive per student. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) estimated that number to be about $12,800 in fiscal year 2023. Based on that, students in the ESA program would be eligible for a little under $10,900, with the number possibly fluctuating as the average state and local funding per child changes.
“The House proposal is a true savings account that gives families the flexibility to use funds when and how they need them, because Texas parents know best,” Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) said while speaking at the Texas Public Policy Foundation Summit. “Unused funds may roll over for future educational expenses.”
Up to $30,000 would be awarded to students in special education, and HB 3 would provide up to $2,000 for homeschooling. The amount of money the state spends on special education can fluctuate depending on the classroom.
“I think that the House version is taking an even stronger eye to the future,” Nathan Cunneen, the Texas State Director for the American Federation for Children, said. “The House version includes a measure that will allow the program to expand to accompany students on the waitlist in future years. That’s incredibly important.”
If the state gets more ESA applications than what it has money for, students living below the poverty line and children with disabilities would be prioritized. The House plan has a stricter tier system to determine eligibility:
- Students with disabilities from families with an annual income at or below 500% of the federal poverty level, which for a four-person household would mean earning less than $156,000.
- Families at or below 200% of the poverty level, which for a four-person household would mean earning less than $62,400.
- Families between 200% and 500% of the poverty level.
- Families at or above 500% of the poverty level.
Gov. Greg Abbott is still prioritizing school choice. On Friday, Burrows said it is the “defining issue” of the 89th Legislative Session.
In 2023, state lawmakers held four special sessions on school choice. Each proposal faced opposition from Democrats and some rural Republican lawmakers, who said a voucher program would drain more resources from an already struggling public education system in Texas.
The bill’s total cost is $1 billion, the same as the Senate’s ESA bill. However, the amount a student would get differs from the Senate’s plan. Lawmakers in the Senate already passed a different ESA bill, which would allow families in the program to use at least $10,000 per child per year to pay for tuition at an accredited private school. That amount would jump to $11,500 for families of children with disabilities.
“Both chambers are prioritizing low-income and special needs students, creating the largest school choice launch in the nation,” State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) said. “I look forward to working with the House to deliver for Texas families finally.”
$200 million would fund Universal ESAs, meaning any student could apply for that money. The other $800 million would be set aside for students with special needs or who are low-income. Senate Bill 2 defines low income as at or below 500% of the federal poverty line.
“If you look at how the house has written this out, they put low-income students then middle-income students in that order of priority,” Cunneen said. “The Senate tends to group low-income and middle-income students, which is also a laudable attempt to put the students who need school choice first in line.
However, Talarico – who is leading the charge on House Democrats’ opposition to the school choice plan – said he does not believe working-class kids across the state will be able to take advantage of the ESA program.
“The voucher didn’t cover the full cost of tuition at most private schools, and private schools don’t have to provide transportation or special education services. That’s not even to mention that the vast majority of the counties, 151, don’t have a private school in Texas,” Talarico said. “Once you put all those barriers in place, you realize how the only folks who can take advantage of this are the wealthier parents who already have their kids in private school.”
The House ESA proposal is coupled with another bill, a sweeping school finance proposal that would increase funding for public schools.
“We’re going to make historic investments in public education because despite what detractors say, you can provide meaningful opportunity to parents to choose where their child is and also take care of public education,” Burrows said.
House Bill 2 would provide nearly $8 billion in new funding for public schools. It sets aside $3 billion to increase the basic allotment, which is the minimum funding schools get each year per student. Under HB 2, that allotment would increase by $220 per student from $6,160 to $6,380. The “basic allotment” has not increased since 2019. House Republicans are calling their plan “The Texas Two Step.”
“I believe we can fully fund public education while recognizing that one size does not fit all,” Burrows said. “Families deserve options. Schools deserve resources. One without the other leaves Texas short. That’s why we’ll be taking two steps to get us to where we need to be.”
Democrats say the school finance proposal still lacks sufficient provisions to help school districts keep up with inflation and rising costs.
“I’m very concerned that this voucher bill is going to take far more money out of our public schools than what’s being proposed by the state Republican leadership,” Talarico said. “I’m worried that when you put both of these bills together, ultimately, you’re going to be draining much-needed resources out of our public schools.”
Texas House Republicans said they believe their proposal is structured to give families more education options without devastating public schools financially.
However, in a tweet earlier this month, Gov. Abbott, the chief advocate for school choice programs in the state, said public schools would lose money if a student leaves public school and goes to a private school as part of the ESA program.
“When they leave, the funding for that child leaves too,” Gov. Abbott wrote on X.
A day later, he backtracked, saying that “school choice doesn’t take a penny from public schools” and is “funded separately like roads and water.”
“This does not take a single dollar from Texas public schools,” Cunneen said. “The Foundation Schools Program, which funds public schools, remains completely untouched. This money comes from an external appropriation of public school budgets.”
On Friday, 50 elected officials from across the state released a letter opposing the bill. The group of city council members, county commissioners and school board trustees said HB 3 would be detrimental to public schools and students because Texas schools are already chronically underfunded.
According to the Texas American Federation of Teachers, 91% of Texas public school students attend underfunded schools.
The leaders said ESAs would especially hurt rural public schools because a drop in funding would cause them to trim their budgets to just the necessities, with no funding for things like sports teams or bands. Some of the signees include board members from Austin and Manor ISD, Austin City Council Member Zo Qadri and Austin Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes.
The Texas American Federation of Teachers also released a statement denouncing the House ESA bill.
“We can only hope that lawmakers won’t be swayed by Twitter noise and the governor’s theatrics and will give House Bill Three the good faith examination that Texas students deserve,” the group’s president, Zeph Capo, wrote in part.
The bills are now before the House Committee on Public Education. Once they pass out of committee, the full Texas House can debate them.
With key differences in the Texas House and Texas Senate ESA proposals, the stage is now set for a major battle this legislative session. Lawmakers must iron out those differences over the next few months to pass school choice and send it to Gov. Abbott’s desk.
